Barnes & Noble
Just when recent forays into Broadway-styled pop (Painted from Memory) and fringe classical music (For the Stars) made it seem like the artist formerly known as Declan McManus had laid his angry-young-man persona to rest once and for all, along comes this raw-nerved, vein-popping collection of songs that prove Elvis is very much in touch with his inner nasty man. It's almost nostalgic, in some sense, to hear Costello spit out clipped, cutting phrases as his bandmates kick up a cloud of new wave dust on sneer-fests like "Tear Your Own Head Off" and "Dissolve." He's found some new guises for that old attitude, however, making it go global on "15 Petals," which parries the choruses with klezmer-styled horns, and trotting out the melodica to give "Soul for Hire" an ominous, "Watching the Detectives"-like oomph. Fortunately, Costello doesn't attempt to pretend the last two decades never happened at all: His concerns have grown more adult -- even if he is every bit as obsessive and compulsive about pondering them. The "Spooky Girlfriend" of the song so titled is far more richly drawn than the off-putting cuties of My Aim Is True, for instance. Likewise, the literary tenor of mini-short stories like "Daddy Can I Turn This?" and the title track (which employs an eerie vocal loop, courtesy of Italian pop diva Mina) will prompt as much footnoting as foot-tapping. Given Costello's propensity for skipping from concept to concept, it may be too soon to call this a return to form. It is, at the very least, a welcome stopover at a rejuvenating port of call. David Sprague
All Music Guide
Given the flurry of activity from Elvis Costello at the turn of the century -- concerts, guest appearances, reissues, a movie role that was barely seen outside of off-hours on BET -- it's hard to believe that he spent four years without releasing an album of new compositions...and if you don't count the Bacharach collaboration, it's been a full six years since his last album. Either way, it was the longest stretch of time between albums in Costello's career, capping off a decade of records where he seemed to determine to flaunt his versatility, range, and ambition, which may be the reason why the focused, stripped-down artiness and resurgent acerbic wit sounds particularly fresh on When I Was Cruel. As such, it's easy to be tempted to call the record a return to form, but it's not an accurate assessment, not least because it's not as strong as Painted From Memory. It is accurate to call it the most Costello Costello record since probably Blood & Chocolate -- one that maintains a consistent tone, bristles with nasty humor, and is filled with carefully written lyrics (some could call them labored) and knowing, clever musicality. Since it's a post-Froom, post-Ribot production, it's murky and hazy, with muffled drums, shoebox guitars, obscured loops, and angled arrangements all signifying that while this is his first pop album in years, it's still a serious experience (but fortunately much livelier than the Froom productions, and not nearly as mannered or affected). In other words, it's exactly what it was supposed to be and it's successful on those terms, but that shouldn't be mistaken as a creative rebirth along the lines of, say, Love & Theft, or a record that will play outside of the cult, since the sound and approach is pretty insular. Given all the care that was put in the production, the variety of the music, and the craft of the lyrics, it's no surprise that there are memorable moments -- whether it's the horns on "Episode of Blonde" or the dynamite guitar on "Tear off Your Own Head (It's a Doll Revolution)," -- but they're moments in songs, not songs themselves. Each song is so tightly wound, only those who automatically listen to new Costello records obsessively upon release will unravel their mysteries. Those listeners will find plenty to obsess over and will be satisfied, since, outside of the Bacharach album, it's his best in a long time. But in order to know that, you will have to have diligently listened to everything from Spike on -- and if you got off the bus around then, it's harder than ever to get back on. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Rolling Stone
Generous in its cruelty, Costello's latest album makes a master's gifts matter again. Barry Walters
Entertainment Weekly
"A"... Bristling with an electric current that seemingly short-circuited years ago, When I Was Cruel is the best work Costello has produced sine Blood & Chocolate back in the mid-'80s. David Browne
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